Chapter 897: Chapter 529: Ask Your Junior Brother for Advice When You Have Time
On the west side of Linlu Academy by the riverbank.
The fishing boat crosses the river.
Surrounded by a vast forest of flaming maples.
An old man in a rain cape and bamboo hat, sitting by the ferry on the riverbank, leisurely casting his line.
Beside him, a group of students serve.
Leading them is the senior disciple, Li Jinsu.
Yan Jidao, the one fishing, glanced at the bait, squinted up at the mist and boats on the great river, and said nonchalantly:
"Jinsu, have you recently visited that woman surnamed Ye at Taiching’s Tranquility Mansion?"
Li Jinsu, acting in place of the teacher, was explaining the Classics to a junior disciple, and was momentarily stunned by the question.
He glanced at the teacher’s calm profile.
"Ah, you mean...that Miss Ye? No, why do you ask?"
Yan Jidao didn’t reply, with a somewhat curious tone asked, "Oh? Didn’t she used to frequently write to you? Why no news recently?"
Li Jinsu scratched his head bashfully, a bit happy, "Maybe it’s because of the gifts I gave her some time ago."
Yan Jidao paused with the fishing rod in his hand, turned his head to scrutinize the serious senior disciple he knew so well, and curiously asked, "Gifts? You...actually gifted her something? What was it?"
You silly boy, you’ve finally learned to give gifts to a woman? Not bad, not bad.
The old teacher stroked his beard, growing more pleased with his senior disciple the more he looked.
The junior brothers and sisters, who were eavesdropping from behind, exchanged glances and took a slight breath.
Hey, their proper and wooden senior brother had finally come to his senses.
Li Jinsu nodded to them and said:
"Teacher, she often comes to me with questions about the Classics, so I figured it was troublesome for her to travel back and forth from Taiching Prefecture to the academy all the time. Always bothering me to fetch her each day wasn’t a good solution either, so I thought why not make things easier once and for all.
"So I took some time, worked for two days and nights, organizing all the Classical books I’ve used since entering the academy, from which I selected a complete set that spans from introductory to mastery in the Classics, filled with my years of reading insights and your profound teachings, Teacher...
"I figured this set of books should suffice for Miss Ye to study for a few years, allowing her to thoroughly grasp the profound wisdom of our Confucian sages. Then I invited Miss Ye to the academy, although she might have discerned my good intentions beforehand because she specially dressed up in a beautiful skirt, lavishly adorned, and applied bright and lovely rouge when she came, clearly of high quality—probably to solemnly welcome the crystallized wisdom of the sages."
At this point, Li Jinsu paused, looked at the suddenly quiet juniors, and said with a smile and a sigh:
"Though I feel it’s quite unnecessary, as long as the spirit of reverence and admiration is there, the form doesn’t matter. If the sages had spirits watching over us, they’d be gratified and wouldn’t mind the formalities."
"But since Miss Ye already did that, I didn’t say much nor ask anything further, led her outside the study hall, let her wait by the door, then went back inside, carried out those books and gave them to her."
Recalling the wisdom of that day, Li Jinsu shyly chuckled, "You won’t believe it, but those books were quite heavy. Miss Ye seemed quite happy when she saw them and took them from me, smiled at me, probably feeling the weight of knowledge in her arms. Not to mention, that pretty dress she wore wasn’t very convenient for carrying books."
Yan Jidao: "......"
Junior brothers and sisters: "......"
Li Jinsu didn’t really notice the sudden silence in the air, and continued enthusiastically recounting that day’s clever act:
"Hey teacher, honestly, I’m a bit reluctant to part with them. These books were something I collected bit by bit over the years. Every year when new books are sent to Book Mountain Book Tower at the foot of the hill, I’d go ahead of time to stake out a spot, otherwise, they’d be snatched up by a few other voracious book-loving senior brothers."
"I’ve witnessed their hand speed, but my hand speed honed over many years isn’t bad either, on par with those senior brothers... But teacher always taught us, it’s better to share happiness with others than to enjoy it alone, and I found it very true, so I gifted them to Miss Ye hoping she cherishes them."
He slightly tilted his head and sighed, his tone tinged with reluctance and wistfulness:
"Come to think of it, hey, despite being damaged with missing and torn pages, those old books were ones I picked out from heaps brought by horses from down the mountain. Many were single copies, very difficult to reprint, although they seemed a bit tattered, people down the mountain who didn’t know their value treated them like scrap paper and sent them in bulk to the academy, but I knew their worth... Well, now there’s also Miss Ye who knows."
At this point, Li Jinsu felt somewhat pleased.
Everyone else: "......"
Yan Jidao, after putting down and picking up the fishing rod several times, finally looked at this senior disciple and couldn’t help but ask, "How...how did she know?"
Li Jinsu happily replied:
"I told her! She took the books, glanced at them, smiled, and earnestly asked me if they were valuable. I nodded, saying they’re worth more than a thousand pieces of immortal money, and Miss Ye seemed quite embarrassed, kept refusing and even offered to pay me."
He shook his head with a solemn expression and said:
"But as a disciple of the teacher, and as the senior brother to my juniors, once you give something away, there’s no reason to take it back or accept any money."